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SPORT FISHING IN CALIFORNIA AND FLORIDA 



From BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES, Volume XXVIII, 1908 

Proceedings of the Fourth Internatioizal Fishery Congress : : Washingto7i , Igo8 




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BUREAU OF FISHERIES DOCUMENT NO. 652 

Issued Febiuary, 1910 



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SPORT FISHING IN CALIFORNIA AND FLORIDA 

By Charles F. Holder 

Paper presented before the Fourth International Fishery Congress 
held, at Washington, U. S. A., September 22 to 26, 1908 



SPORT FISHING IN CALIFORNIA AND FLORIDA. 

J* 

By CHARLES F. HOLDER. 

It is not generally appreciated by the public that ' 'sport" has economic value. 
By the unthinking it is not taken into account in the evolution of a country, 
being considered a waste of time, a mere amusement. Yet sport brings four or 
five million dollars into the state of Maine every year, and sport, particularly 
angling, brings quite a$ large a sum annually to Cahfornia. 

Over 1 70,000 people visit the Channel Islands of California every j^ear. They 
make the attractive pilgrimage mainly to the shrine of Walton, for here, from 
Coronado to Santa Barbara and particularly at Santa Catalina and San Clemente 
(a United States Government island), is to be found the finest sea angling in 
the world. 

Rod and reel fishing has been reduced to an exact science here, and this has 
been accomplished through the Tuna Club, an organization which includes in its 
membership most of the notable sportsmen of the country — as Ex-President 
Roosevelt, Henry Van Dyke, Gifford Pinchot, Charles Halleck, Casper Whitney, 
the late Ex-President Grover Cleveland, and manj^ more. This club has 
introduced light-tackle fishing as a sportsmanlike movement, also to prevent 
the undue slaughter of fish, and thus accomplishes a most valuable work in con- 
serving all the resources of the ocean. By this club's efforts business in fishing 
tackle has been enhanced a thousand times; hundreds of people find direct 
employment as boatsmen and employees in allied interests; large sums are 
brought into the state from numerous parts of this country and Europe and 
sport, or one feature of it, has been elevated and dignified as a state and national 
asset of unquestionable importance. In the present paper some of the most 
important of the great game fishes of southern California and Florida are 
described. 

AT SANTA CATALINA ISLAND. 

The black sea bass of Santa Catalina is a game and food fish which attains 
a weight of 800 pounds, averaging 250 pounds, and is very common in this 
locality, living in and about the kelp or nereocystean forests that surround the 
island. It appears in May in schools of six or seven, breaks up and is ready to 



202 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 

Spawn in August. Professional fishermen take it for the market with "cod" 
Hues and albacore bait, but the anglers of the Tuna Club use 24-ounce and 
9-ounce rods with a reel that will hold 1,000 feet of a 9-thread Cuttyhunk line 
made for the purpose. The line is made in a building 700 feet long and is 
tested to pull a dead weight of 2 pounds to the thread. With this tackle the 
anglers go to the grounds in launches especially designed for the purpose, 18 or 
20 feet long with 8 or 10 horsepower gasoline engines. In the stem are two 
comfortable chair seats, one fishing to the right, the other to the left. On 
reaching the groimd the boatman tosses over the anchor, fixing a float to it 
that he can cast off. The angler straps on a belt with a socket for the butt of 
his rod, baits the number 7/0 O'Shaughnessy hook with half a barracuda, or a 
6-pound whitefish, or a piece of albacore, and tosses it over in 40 feet of 
water. He may have to wait for a strike or he may get one immediately. 
The strike is delicate, and when it comes the angler pays out 10 or 20 feet of 
line, then strikes. If he hooks the fish there is a heavy rush and the boatman 
casts off the anchor (fig. i, pi. i) and follows the fish, or keeps the angler stern to 
it until he brings it to gaff, which may take an hour or five, according to the fish. 
The gaffer, if the fish is large, tows it in, if small (150 pounds), he takes it on 
deck (fig. 2, pi. i) and goes into port (fig. 3, pi. 11), where scores of people 
hurry down to the dock to see the fish weighed. 

The tuna of the Pacific, or horse mackerel, or tunny, is taken in the Mediter- 
ranean in great nets, miles long, being driven in, and the nets at Sicily are of 
great value. In America the tuna, of three kinds, is taken as sport and is also 
used as a food fish. The leaping tuna comes into Catalina in June and remains 
until January. It is considered the greatest of all game fishes. The tackle is 
a 24-otmce rod, a 24-thread Cuttyhunk or other good line, and a large reel of 
Vom Hofe make. The angler does not wear a belt, but has a socket on the seat 
for the butt of the rod. (Fig. 5, pi. iii.) Flying fish is the bait, which is 
trolled about 100 feet behind the boat. Anglers play the fish and troll for it. 
They also approach the schools and cast the heavy bait in front of them. The 
fish average 1 70 pounds (fig. 6, pi. iii) and the record is 251 pounds with the tackle 
described. Market fishermen fish with heavy lines from sail boats, but the fish 
is so powerful that few care to do it. The fish is a famous leaper before it is 
hooked and when feeding, and preys almost exclusively on flying fish and squid. 
It is found in all temperate and semitropic seas, and often weighs 1,500 pounds. 
This tuna is fished for a quarter of a mile offshore on about 4 miles of coast at 
Santa Catalina and has not been taken with a rod in any other locality. It has 
been known to tow a boat for 30 miles. 

The albacore, long- finned tuna, or alalonga, ranges up to 100 povmds and 
is found in many localities off Santa Catalina Island. It lives in deep water 
but near the surface. It looks something like the blue tuna but has very long 



SPORT FISHING IN CALIFORNIA AND FI.ORIDA. 203 

pectoral fins. It is followed by anglers and taken with either a 6-omice rod 
with 6 or 3 thread line (this for experts) or a 9-ounce rod with 9-thread line. 
The bait is sardine and the fish are so ravenous that they will at times snatch 
a sardine from one's hand, or the game can be hooked at the side of the boat 
when the school is located, during which operation the bait is towed behind 
the boat. 

The yellow-finned tuna, which is a beautiful fish and attains a weight of 100 
pounds, averaging 45, is common in Japan and at Honolulu, and appears at 
Santa Catalina in September. The largest specimens are taken with rod and 
reel for market and sport. It resembles the leaping tuna but has a short fin, with 
the finlets a vivid lemon-yellow. (Fig. 11 , pi. vi.) It will tow a boat 2 or 3 miles. 

The bonito or skip jack is another of the beautiful fishes of California and 
other seas. It is taken with a 6-omice rod, no. 6 line, small hook (7/0), and 
sardine bait. The hook in baiting is thrust through the mouth, out and into the 
side, the mouth of the fish closed by being woimd by wire. The bonito attains 
a weight of 20 pounds and is a vigorous fighter, having a peculiar wriggling 
motion, and playing on the surface entirely. The angler follows it in launches. 

The oceanic bonito comes in early spring. It attains a weight of 25 pounds, 
is beautifully barred and silvery. It is taken on a 6-ounce rod, and a line that 
will stand a dead strain of 12 pounds; sardine bait, a long piano wire leader, 
6/0 hook and light sinker. (Fig. 4, pi. 11.) The boat proceeds at a rate of 3 
or 4 miles an hour trolling 80 feet of line, and the fish is gaffed when brought in. 

The white sea bass is a food and game fish of California attaining a weight 
of 100 pounds. It is taken by market men in nets at Monterey, but at Catalina 
is a great game fish (fig. 7) , and to encourage anglers to use light rods valuable 
prizes are offered for the big specimens. The club record is 60 pounds. The 
fish is taken with a 9-ounce rod, 9-thread line, by trolling with a sardine on a 
7/0 hook and 6-foot piano wire leader. It makes a fine play, and requires skill 
to land. The white sea bass appears in May and disappears in August, and 
except in Monterey may be considered an offshore fish, being taken in greatest 
numbers at the Channel Islands of California. In the Gulf of California it 
attains a weight of 150 pounds, and is often taken in the surf on the east coast 
of the Guff, north of Tiburon. It prefers flying-fish bait, but live smelt or 
sardine is good; also a Wilson spoon in trolling. The live bait is used in still- 
fishing, the plan being to drop an empty hook into a school of sardines and 
snag a fish, which, if there is a white sea bass around, will be taken at once. 
Remarkable catches are made in Avalon Bay, where the fish all weigh over 50 
pounds. There is another species of the fish, averaging 15 pounds, called "sea 
trout," which is taken in the same way. Both species are related to the eastern 
weakfish, or squeteague. 



204 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 

The yellowtail of the Pacific coast is not the yellowtail of Florida, but is 
closely related to the amberfish, or amber jack, of the latter region. It is the 
common fish of southern California, where it attains weight of loo pounds. The 
rod record is 60 pounds. It is a beautiful fish, blue, silver, Avith yellow median 
line fins and finlets, and all in all the hardest fighting fish known. It is taken 
by hand lines for the market in deep water near shore or at the surface. In 
the early season it runs in schools, but breaks up and solitar}^ fish are often 
seen. If the winter in southern California is warm and dry, the yellowtail is 
taken every month in the year, but if cold the fish goes to offshore banks or 
down into very deep water, where its food supply also doubtless winters. It is 
taken from rowboats (fig. 8, pi. iv) or launches, with rods 6 or 9 ounce split bam- 
boo, 6 feet or over in length; medium-sized reel, 9-thread line, with 6-foot leader 
of wire, 7/0 hook, and large flying-fish or small sardine bait (large fish take the 
former). It can be taken by still fishing or trolling, is a wharf fish as well, 
and is also taken under kelp patches miles out to sea. It is the fish of the 
people in California, worth thousands to the state as a game fish (fig. 11, pi. vi), 
and equally valuable as a food supply to the masses. It spawns in the summer. 

The barracuda, found in schools in California in summer, is taken in gill 
nets, also on light tackle rods. It is a good food but poor game fish. In 
August the schools break up and individual fish are seen. The barracuda takes 
sardine or smelt bait. 

The ocean sunfish (fig. 9, pi. v) taken for sport, attains a w^eight of 2,200 
pounds in California, and is found all over the world in temperate waters. It 
takes bait but rarely. The author hooked one August 26, 1908, and landed it by 
rushing at it in a launch, gaffing it quickly, and holding on to it, despite its 
rushes. It weighed half a ton doubtless, and was 10 feet high. This fish is 
very common in southern California waters. On pleasant days it can be seen 
jumping, and the pursuit of it constitutes sport for those who like lusty pas- 
times at sea. It is generally taken with a spear, but to hook it and rush the 
launch in and gaff it before it goes down is a game that has no little excitement. 
I have taken large specimens off the Atlantic coast in this wa}' and once off the 
Florida coast. No more extraordinary creature can be imagined than this 
colossus with no appreciable tail, a fish all head with its two huge fins pointing 
up and down, dotted with waving parasites, splashed and spotted with mem- 
branifera, sailing along in the deep blue sea. The small ones go in schools. 
The skin is used as sandpaper, the muscle as rubber for balls. 

The California flying fish is taken as food in seven wa}'s: One by setting a 
gill net at the surface; the fish is so stupid that the moment it touches the net 
it stops and turns over and is easily caught. The sportsmanlike way to take 
it is to shoot it with a shotgun. This I have accomplished by seating myself 



SPORT PISHING IN CALIFORNIA AND FLORIDA. 205 

in the bow of a fast launch, and as the flying fish rises on either hand shooting 
it either to the right or left. A good dog might be trained to spring and re- 
trieve flying fish, though the ordinary plan is to run alongside and take them 
with a scoop net. The fish are in demand as food but are more valuable as bait 
for tuna or yellow-tail fishing, bringing $1 a dozen in the season from May to 
October. Numbers of people have been struck by them. One hit the writer 
in the neck and nearly knocked him overboard. The fish does not fly but soars, 
holding its wings rigid and covering a distance of a quarter of a mile. 

At Santa Catalina the sheepshead is a good game fish. It is taken either 
from the rocks or from the boats near shore. The tackle used is an 8 or 9 ounce 
rod, a 6-thread line, and abalone or crayfish bait. A sinker should be used, as 
the fish is found on or near the bottom. 

A good hard-fighting fish caught here is the leaping shark, taken from the 
beach of Catalina Harbor with a light rod. Like the tarpon, the fish will leap 
as soon as hooked, and for a while makes a very fair fight. 

SALMON AND TROUT IN CALIFORNIA. 

One of the finest game fishes in America is the salmon, taken with rod and 
reel in the streams and rivers of Canada. On the Pacific coast the salmon 
congregate in Monterey Bay before entering the rivers. At Monterey, Santa 
Cruz, and Capitola they are fished for from boats, the professional fishermen 
with big boats, using hand lines and heavy sinkers, in water 40 or 50 feet deep, 
with sardine bait, but the sportsmen using a rod weighing 9 ounces, with a 
9-thread line and 7/0 hook baited with smelt, anchovy, or sardine. A sinker is 
needed, and an ingenious device is used to release the sinker and enable the man 
to play the fish. The line near the hook is connected by a thread on which is 
run a pipe sinker of lead. When the fish strikes the thread breaks, releasing 
the line, and the angler plays the salmon, which comes to the surface and leaps, 
making a fine play. Large catches are made (fig. 10, pi. v). 

California abounds in trout, and the methods of angling are the same as in 
the East, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8 ounce split bamboos being the rods most in vogue, 
with " E " silk lines and 6-foot leaders and one fly, of a kind depending upon the 
locality. At Klamath Lake, where the giant rainbows are found, the "March 
Brown" fly is the best, the flsh making a fine play, leaping from the water. In 
Feather River, Plumas County, Cal., they are taken in the same way. The river 
is swift, and the fly fishing excellent, big deep pools being found everywhere 
here. A cork fly or "grasshopper " is very killing. 

In the Sacramento, also in the Kern and other streams, the fishing is excel- 
lent with the fly. The black bass has been introduced, also the striped bass in 
the waters about San Francisco Bay. 



2o6 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OK FISHERIES. 

ON FLORIDA COASTS. 

Florida is famous for its game fishes, and, except the tarpon, they are also 
food fishes. The tarpon is the great game fish of the world. In some localities 
it is taken with hand lines, but the method in vogue among sportsmen is to take 
it with a 9-ounce rod, 9-thread line, and lo/o hook with mullet bait. The boat 
(launch or rowboat) trolls slowly, with 30 or 40 feet of line out, and at the strike 
the fish goes into the air in repeated leaps, giving a fine play. One hundred miles 
south of Galveston, on the Gulf, is the Aransas Pass Tarpon Club, a well-known 
organization, and when brought to the boat here the fish is towed inshore, meas- 
ured, and released. Here, as in Florida as well, in shallow water, the big 
jewfish also is taken, with i6-ounce rods, 24-thread line, large hook, and wire 
leader. This fish attains a weight of 400 or 500 pounds, is sluggish, and found 
in holes. 

One of the interesting food and game fishes is the hogfish, beautiful in rich 
red tints and with waving plume-like fins. A hand line is used for its capture, 
the sinker on the bottom and large hook 2 feet above, so that it will swing 
clear of the coral. This is lowered in water from 30 to 60 feet deep in the coral, 
and catches of 15 pounds are taken. 

In shallow waters the most beautiful of all the Florida fishes is the gray 
snapper. It is caught by the professionals with hand lines, as above, with 
crawfish or conch bait; but an 8-ounce bass rod is to the sportsman's taste, 
with a fine no. 6 line, and a bunch of small sardines for bait. The fish resembles 
a black bass, and plays like one, but does not jump. There are a number of 
snappers, all caught the same way. 

Related to the snappers is the beautiful little yellowtail, with yellow stripes 
and fins. A 6-ounce rod, a no. 6 line, and 4-inch hook baited with crawfish is 
the lure, and on the shallow reef among the gorgonians or sea fans it is found 
in great numbers, affording good sport, besides being an excellent pan fish. 
This fish is quite different from the big yellowtail of the California coast. 

Along the mainland is found the sea trout or squeteague, a fine game fish, 
taken with the same tackle. No fish makes a better fight. The bait for it may 
be sardine, smelt, or crab. 

Common wharf fishes of Florida are the porgies, which throng some 
localities in myriads. They are good pan fish. 

Notable food fishes here are the groupers. The red grouper is the most 
valuable, and specimens weighing 50 pounds have been taken. It is a deep- 
water fish, caught on a hand line, with conch bait or anything at hand. Other 
groupers are taken on the same tackle (hook above the sinker) . 

The ladyfish is a splendid game fish, ranging up to 6 and 7 pounds, long, 
slender, and silvery. A 6 or 8 ounce rod, 6-thread line, crab or fish bait is the 



SPORT FISHING IN CALIFORNIA AND FLORIDA. 207 

tackle, upon being hooked the fish leaps into the air and literally dances over 
the water on its tail. The bonyfish is very similar in its action. 

The common pan fish on the reef is the grunt, found literally in thousands. 
It is rather a poor game fish, but makes a fairly good play on a 6-ounce trout 
rod. Any bait is acceptable to the grunt, but especially crayfish. As its 
name suggests, it grunts when taken out of the water. 

On the reefs are a number of fishes known as " j acks , ' ' ranging up to 1 6 pounds 
and over. They run in schools and chase sardines, and can be caught with this 
bait. Few fish make a more game play, dashing through the water and breaking 
the line of the novice. They are mostly caught on the hand line trolling, but 
the true way to take them is with a 6-ounce rod, 6 feet long, 6 line, 7/0 hook, and 
sardine bait. This tackle is small and delicate for the fish, but can take them in 
the hands of a skillful angler. 

At Palm Beach, the amberfish is taken with a lo-ounce rod, 21 -thread line, 
and sardine bait. Boats are rowed out beyond the surf and still fishing is the 
method. This fish is allied to the California yellowtail, and puts up a splendid 
fight. The angler wears a belt with a leather socket in which he secures a 
certain leverage, and often plays the fish an hour or more before he brings it 
to gaflf. (Fig. 12, pi. VI.) Amber jacks of 50 or 60 pounds are taken in this way. 

The northern bluefish is a splendid catch on a 9-ounce rod, 9-thread line. 
So are the channel bass, drumfish, and striped bass. All should be taken with 
this tackle 



Bui.. U. S. B. F., ic 



Plate I. 




Fig. I.— The strike. 




ANGI,ING FOR BLACK SEA BASS, S.4NTA CATALIXA ISLAND. 



BuL. U. S. B. F., 1908. 



Platk II. 





But. U. S. B. F., i( 



Plate III. 





BuL. U. S. B. F., 190S. 



Plate IV. 




Fig. 7.— a day's sport at Santa Catalina Island with white sea bass. 




Fig. S. — The yellowtail anglers of Avalon Bay, California (Santa Catalina Island); 200 to 300 boats often ; 
all fishing -with rod and reel. 



Bui.. U. S. B. F., i 



Plate V. 




Fig. io.— .\ salmon (rod and reel) catch, Del Monte, Californii 



BuL. U. S. B. F., 1908. 



Plate VI. 




132 78 56? 



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